Before You Begin
Before You Begin
Summary
This section describes information that you must know before
you begin connecting external peripheral or network cables to
the system unit.
Parallel Port
and Serial Port
All standard systems have a serial port
1
and a parallel port.
However, if the system is a DEC 2000 Model 500 AXP system
with a console terminal attached, the serial port is not available
for other types of peripherals.
Terminal
Settings
The keyboard and monitor provide the primary interface to the
system firmware. However, you can also use a console terminal
connected to the serial port. Before you can use the console
terminal with the system, you must modify certain display
and communications settings on the terminal. See the section
entitled Serial Port Terminal Settings for information on the
settings that you must modify before you use the system console
terminal.
External SCSI
and Network
Connections
To connect external SCSI devices to the system, or to connect the
system to a network, the system must contain an appropriate
EISA or ISA option board. Digital recommends that you use only
Digital-supported option boards. The following section describes
how to get information on and order the option boards that are
currently supported.
Other External
Connections
You can install other Digital-supported option boards that
provide additional serial or modem communications ports. See
the documentation supplied with the option for information on
connecting cables to these ports. To get information on the option
boards that are currently supported or to order these items, you
must contact your Digital sales representative.
1
The system supports two serial ports, but one is internally connected
to the IFP and is not available for external connections.
7–2 Connecting to External Ports
